Self-Portrait

Today I have unfortunately been home from work with muscle spasms in my back. Its not a fun time and gets boring, and half the time I've been doped up on muscle relaxants. I have tried to keep myself entertained doing various things that you can do sitting up in bed, but I thought I would have some fun with Photoshop! I recently took some pictures of myself through willow branches and I really liked them! So here are some fun ways I played with one of the photos in Photoshop.

What High School did you go to??

For those of you who are from St. Louis, or for those of you who know anyone from St. Louis, you will appreciate this. I find it especially hilarious as I myself went through these yes and no questions and lo-and-behold it led me exactly to the high school I went to, Whitfield School.

So try it out and enjoy!

Click on the image to view larger

Click on the image to view larger

Brand Leverage in Advertising

I was doing some reading about "synced ads", where one or more ad spaces cooperate together to communicate one message. This reminded me of the Super Bowl commercials this past year and how there were quite a few ads that promoted two companies instead of just one. I found this very interesting, as it was a new concept to me and I wonder now if it worked or not. I'm not sure that it did, and mainly this is because as I was trying to google the commercials, nothing immediately popped up about them or how novel these commercials are.

I have a few thoughts on these commercials.

First, I think that in today's media culture consumers are bombarded with advertisements. They get them on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, public transportation trackers, Gmail, billboards, train stations, buses, etc. Basically, ads are everywhere and for an advertisement to stand out to a consumer it has to make big statements or really grab a consumer's attention. I think this combining brands is one way companies are trying to do this. It potentially could simplify information, or at least simplify the AMOUNT of information a consumer is receiving. Potentially, this idea could work.

Second, and the antithesis of this thought, while multi-branding a commercial controls the amount of information coming in to a consumer during a given period of time, it also can complicate the information.  A consumer may be left more confused about what they saw rather than driven to remember the company's name and intent. Case in point, I could not remember who had teamed up on the commercials until I'd searched google for a good 5-10 minutes. In internet time, this is A LOT of time spent trying to find the company and thus, not good for the company.

Thirdly, I do think that this form of advertising could be good for consumerism and advertising. I think this, because since there is so much competition out there, a company can start making dynamic advertisements in order to compete against one less product. It shows consumers a team of products working towards one goal/intent versus so much competition between companies. Because, lets face it, in today's society companies are not isolated from working with other companies. To survive, I think it is important to team up, to use another company's strength in order to make your company stronger. A great example of this is the GE/Budweiser commercial. Budweiser is a strong American Beer company and GE is a strong American energy company. Together they are showing we are Americans helping other Americans do the things they love. We work together, we power each other. This is a strong message to make in this economy and this time. Its saying that America is still strong and there are people out there helping other people. And while this commercial wasn't particularly memorable, I think it had a strong message.

Overall, I think companies gave this a idea a good go and I don't think its something that should be over or not done again. I just think this form of advertising needs to be perfected and experimented with to see what is most dynamic and memorable for the viewers. 

Another commercial with co-branding.

Latest and Greatest

Here is the latest and greatest Cupcake Menu I designed for the bakery department. So go ahead! Try some of our very own In-House made cupcakes at Whole Foods Market Charles River Plaza!

Last Few Design Projects @ Work

 Poster for an event happening first week of march.

A poster I designed for a Whole Body event that occurred right before Valentine's Day.

A flyer for a cake-decorating event for Bakery.

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Today in Boston there were highs in the 50s and it was sunny, so it was an opportune time to explore some of the outdoor parks. I chose to got to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA about 25 minutes from my apartment. It is indeed a national treasure, with beautiful landscaping, peaceful walkways and serene sculptures. It was hard for me to imagine that right outside its gates was a busy urban street. Mount Auburn was founded in 1831 as a public, natural setting for the commemoration of the bereaved. It has also became a place of international recognition for its landscaping, historic associations and monuments. 

I think it was especially captivating because of its size and the rolling hills that led me through a maze of graves, sculptures, architecture, trees and ponds. In the winter the trees are bear, and most of the plants are hibernating in the ground. It almost has a more grave look that many people relate to death and grieving, however, I found there was life everywhere. There were some sprouting bulbs, and hawks flying overhead. And in the winter foliage you found beauty in the many trees that filled the landscape (there are nearly 6,000 trees and over 700 varieties). 

With the rolling landscape, beautiful foliage, and interesting architecture and scenery, I am looking forward to my next visit to the Mount Auburn Cemetery when spring arrives.  

The landscape.

One of the budding flowers in front of the George Washington monument. 

Some interesting designs at the entrance of one of the memorials.

One of the various sculptures.

One of the hawks that was soaring through the clear blue sky. 

Beautiful stain glass windows in one of the chapels. 

RED

Tonight I went to go see the play "Red" at the Boston Center for the Arts. It is a play written by John Logan who is an American playwright and screenwriter for movies such as "Hugo", "Coriolanus" and "Skyfall". The play itself won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play and I must say it was well deserved. Not a huge fan of plays, I was unsure of what to expect. I was unsure how "artsy" it would be as it described Mark Rothko's making of the Seagram Murals. However, Logan turned this subject in to a fascinating, comedic portrayal of Rothko and his ideas and thoughts on art, death, youth and age. With only two actors in the entire play, they were really able to capture the depth and power that the paintings had as well as of the two characters. There were dark, serious moments always followed by humor and intrigue. The fictional depiction of Rothko brought many facts about his life and his character to stage without preaching his biography, and for that I applaud Logan. So, if you are ever in need of a good night of humor, art and a little history, "Red" is a perfect night out. Just be ready to sit for an hour and forty minutes as there is no intermission.